"The government will not tolerate statements that create dissonance in our society and disrespect for others."
Jean Augustine, former Minister of State for Multiculturalism

Monday, May 08, 2006

Kennedy Slums It In Montreal

The dearth of Liberal leadership candidates from Quebec and glut of same from Toronto is so embarrassing to the party that one of them is moving there to balance things out:

Liberal leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy is moving from Toronto to Quebec for part of the campaign in a bid to show he's serious about reconnecting with the province.

"We look forward to doing that as a way to allow me to do a lot more grassroots things in Quebec," says Kennedy, who resigned his post as Ontario's education minister to seek the top job in the federal Liberal party.

What an empty symbolic gesture. Quebecois will not warm to the party again just because one of the candidates has condescended to rent a house in Montreal for the duration of the leadership contest. Whatever the result, Kennedy will flit back to Toronto at the end of the race.

But this gesture will have the intended effect on its real audience: the Toronto elites who still believe in Trudeau's bilingual, multicultural paradise. Kennedy at least shows that he cares. And that's enough for them.